DEVIL MAY CRY: BLOOD OF SPARDA
by TheDarkWraith
Summary: The forces of Hell find a new battleground-and a new warrior has vowed to stop them.
1. Prologue

**DEVIL MAY CRY: BLOOD OF SPARDA**

**Note: Some characters, places, objects, creatures, concepts, and ideas are drawn from the _Devil May Cry _games. Others are products of the author's imagination.**

**Introduction**

**_The hammer hit the steel lying on the anvil and sparks flew. A few of the sparks landed on the exposed arm of the blacksmith. If the smith felt pain, there was no sign—no cry, no movement. Instead, the hammer fell upon the steel once again. Then it was lifted off the anvil and immersed in dry ice, then plain ice, then water. Each time, the steel hissed as its heat was drawn off. _**

_**The steel fell under the smith's unwavering gaze. Flaws were dealt with, weaknesses eliminated. The steady rhythm of metal on steel flowed through the smith's shop much as the sweat flowed down the smith's body. The hammer met the steel, the steel dove into the cooling liquid, the smith examined the steel, and the steel returned to the anvil. The cycle continued for several hours, much as it had days before. How long, the smith didn't even think about, concentrating on the task at hand.**_

**_The steel slowly took shape under the smith's patient care. It was as if the steel had remembered its true form and nature. The hammer only served to remove that which was unnecessary, the fire made stronger that which remained, the ice and water cleansed the steel of the impurities that remained. _**

**_After some time had passed, the smith raised the steel once again. This time, there were no errors that the smith's trained and unforgiving eye could detect. Satisfied, the smith plunged the steel once again into another barrel of water, this one special. It had been drawn from a sacred source and as the steel was submerged into the water, it seemed to be enveloped in blue and silver fire that illuminated its dark form._**

**_Days passed. And then finally, the smith's work was done. No longer was it steel held in the gloved hand—or rather, it was steel but also more than steel. It was a sword, naked and awaiting the great battle for which it had been created._**

**_The smith gazed at the sword. Truly, this work had been worth the time the smith had spent. Then the smith removed the protective mask that sheltered eyes and face from harm while working at the anvil. The smith's jet-black hair flew loose as the band that held mask to face was removed. Lips curved into a small yet satisfied smile._**

_**In its blade, the smith could see faces—Father, Uncle, Mother, perhaps even Grandfather. **_

**_She was Cassandra, grand-daughter of Sparda. And now it was her time to battle the forces of Hell._**


	2. Chapter One: Block Patrol

**CHAPTER ONE: Block Patrol**

Luanne looked over her shoulder. There was that noise again. She wondered briefly where it might be coming from but decided not to find out. She knew better than to loiter around in the streets at this time of the night. She began walking a little bit faster, especially when she heard the noise once more.

Luanne couldn't decide what she liked less—the fact that the noise was getting closer or that the noise seemed to be coming from above her. She wanted to look up but fought back the urge. Some part of her was afraid of what she might see.

As if taunting her, the noise made itself heard again—only much too close for comfort this time.

Luanne began to run. Her high-heeled shoes made it hard but she ran anyway. She would've stopped to take them off like she did when she was running from the police but a voice inside her mind told her to just run as fast as she could.

The demons watched from above as the woman broke into a run. They chortled among themselves. Try as she might, there was no way she could escape them. They were hungry and they had chosen her as their prey.

One of the demons left their perch on the edge of the derelict building and began to crawl along the wall, keeping the woman in sight, Its tail brushed against the wall, knocking off little chips of concrete. As the woman ran, it began to move faster, followed by its brood. Tongues dripping with slaver licked leering faces. Muscular arms and legs carried them quicker than the woman's legs could. Still, they didn't pounce right away; they liked playing with their food, especially if it was human. A human's fear made them taste better, like a savory sauce poured all over a finely-cooked piece of meat.

Against her better judgment, Luanne looked up.

She immediately wished she hadn't. What she saw clambering around above her made her want to scream in horror. Her mind tried to identify the lithe, slime-covered, red-eyed shapes that seemed to be crawling on the walls of the building beside her. It couldn't. Instead, it focused on something more important: survival. Her tired legs protested as she tried to get them to move faster. Her feet screamed at her to stop but she ignored them completely. Instead, she just slowed down enough to remove her shoes and throw them away. She could always buy a new pair in Divisoria.

If she lived long enough to go to Divisoria again, that is. Her mind quickly removed that thought. She had to make it, had to, for Rosie's sake…her little sister…Rosie's face came to her then. She was the reason why she was out working so late…even if Rosie said that she could stop going to school if only her Ate Luanne would just stop staying out so late because it was dangerous…

"Oh, Rosie…" Luanne whispered, as if her little sister's name was a prayer that could protect her from those things that were coming after her, coming closer...

In a way, it _was_ a prayer. And, unlike many other prayers Luanne had said in her lifetime, it was heard and answered.

The first demon had leapt off the wall and was only a few feet away from sinking its claws into Luanne when it felt something hit it. The demon hit the sidewalk, blinking stupidly as it saw some black fluid coming from its body. Then it recognized what it was: blood…and ichor…but how…?

It sensed rather than saw something move towards it. Within milliseconds, the demon's head detached itself from its body. Then it was consumed as if by flame and was reduced to ash.

The other demons stopped, wondering what had happened. The woman was forgotten. One of their brood had been destroyed. But by what?

Then they saw a milky-silver sphere flash into existence below them. From the sphere, a woman stepped out into the sidewalk. She looked up at where the demons were. They looked at each other, confused. _The woman could see them, even if they were concealing themselves!_

"Are you going to come down here or should I just go up there and kill you where you are?" the woman challenged them.

The demons growled in anger. _How dare she?_ They leapt off the building and surrounded her. Then they stood up to their full height, grinning with wet fangs and slavering lips as they saw that they were taller than the woman, even if it was just by a head and a half. Their claws gleamed dully in the streetlights. The woman was lucky to have killed one of their brood but she was a fool if she thought that killing the remainder of them—there were four left—would be as simple a task. They advanced slowly, relishing the aura of fear that would soon come from their new prey…

The woman spun around casually, as if counting the demons. No fear came from her yet. _Perhaps she was insane, that would be why she wasn't afraid of them_. The demons didn't care, truth be told—they would kill her where she stood whether she was afraid of them or not.

One of them lunged, arm outstretched, claws bared.

The woman moved and the demon who attacked first barely had time to see its arm fall off, spurting ichor and blood, before its severed head joined the twitching limb. Then the demon disintegrated.

The three remaining demons roared in fury and disbelief. _She had dispatched two of them? Impossible!_ They halted, unsure of what to do now that the situation had changed. One of them made up its mind quicker than the others and pressed its attack. Its ashes were soon scattered in the night wind. The other two demons didn't even have a chance to react. Another blur of movement and they were gone as well, leaving only their ashes as evidence of their existence.

The woman watched as the last two demons turned to nothingness. She waited for a few moments, senses aware and sword at the ready, in case there were more. No new attacks came.

She sheathed her sword and walked towards the building. Someone was waiting for her at the corner, underneath one of the streetlamps.

Luanne saw the woman walking towards her. She still couldn't understand what had happened. She no longer took drugs; that wasn't an option anymore since Rosie had moved in with her. The money she used to waste on drugs now went to putting Rosie through school and making sure they had a roof over their heads, clothes on their backs, and food in their stomachs. If her eyes weren't fooling her, she'd just witnessed that woman take on those five creatures that had undoubtedly been stalking her. She'd killed them all on her own, with that sword she now had hidden underneath her trench coat.

"Are you all right?"

Luanne stepped back, startled. In the time that her thoughts about what she'd seen had crossed her mind, her rescuer had covered the distance from the street to where she'd been hiding, watching the battle. And she hadn't even heard her run!

"Miss?" the woman said to her, waving a hand across her face. "Are you all right? Did those things hurt you?"

"N-no," Luanne replied. "I'm okay…th-thanks…" She looked at the woman. She was tall—about as tall as the woman from that last Terminator movie, around five-nine or five-ten. She wasn't overly muscular like some of the female wrestlers she used to see on TV but Luanne could tell that she was in great shape. Her black hair glistened under the streetlamp. Incongruously, she wore dark glasses that appeared to be molded to the shape of her face. Her trench coat was steel-gray. Underneath it was what appeared to be some kind of dark green vest—maybe a bulletproof vest, Luanne thought. A pair of semi-fit blue jeans and black boots completed her wardrobe.

"Come on. I'll walk you home," the woman offered.

"No need…I don't live far from here—" Luanne stammered. She still wasn't sure what to make of her rescuer.

"Just to be safe, okay?" the woman told her. She extended her hand, which was wrapped in a black and silver glove. "My name is Cassandra."

Luanne tentatively took her hand. "I'm Luanne. Are you sure you don't mind…?"

"No problem. Besides, there might be more of those muggers around."

_Muggers?_ Luanne thought._ But those things hadn't looked anything like human beings…_

"Yeah, muggers, Luanne," Cassandra said. Her hand flew up to Luanne's face and covered her eyes. "Muggers like to attack people at night, right?" Then she took her hand away.

"Yeah…that's right…muggers do that…" Luanne swayed dizzily. Cassandra grabbed her arm to steady her. "Wow, I must have been more scared than I thought…"

"See? I'll accompany you home. Your sister must be worried about you already."

_How did she know about Rosie? She hadn't mentioned anything about her._ Luanne was about to ask her about that but then she felt woozy again. This time, when Cassandra offered to take her home, she didn't argue. She held onto Cassandra's arm as they began to walk to her apartment compound. In the street behind them, not even ashes remained of her five attackers.

Luanne's apartment compound wasn't the worst Cassandra had seen but it sure looked as if its glory days were long past. The outside was covered in graffiti describing various sexual acts, declaring gang allegiances, and a few intelligent comments thrown in among the rest. The gate leading into the apartments was unguarded. Luanne produced a key and unlocked the door set into the left half of the gate.

"This is where I live," she told Cassandra almost apologetically. "My sister Rosie lives with me, she's probably asleep already…" She unlocked the door to her apartment and led the way inside. Luanne turned on the lights in the living room and saw that her little sister was indeed asleep on their worn sofa. A book lay open in front of her atop a coffee table. Cassandra smiled at that; it reminded her of the days when she and her own sister would read to each other before bedtime...

Luanne took off her shoes and put on a pair of rubber slippers. Then she knelt beside her sister, shaking her gently. "Rosie, Rosie…Ate's home…" she whispered. Rosie slowly opened her eyes, taking a few moments to focus on the person speaking with her. "A-ate?" she said, rubbing her eyes and blinking. "Why are you so late? Did something happen to you…?

"Shhh…I'm okay, Rosie. I ran into a little trouble but my new friend helped me," Luanne told her, gesturing towards Cassandra, who was standing over the two of them.

"Are you an angel?" Rosie asked Cassandra. She thought she was still dreaming—_were those wings she saw peering over the shoulders of the person behind her sister?_

"No, Rosie," Cassandra replied. "I just happened to be in the right place at the right time."

"Okay. Thanks for helping my Ate. Are you hungry? Your dinner is on the table." Rosie made as if to stand but Luanne stopped her. "It's okay, Rosie. We'll just help ourselves. You go upstairs and go to bed, all right?" Rosie nodded sleepily and headed for the stairs. Luanne watched as her sister went up to her room. Cassandra could feel the love that Luanne had for her sister; it radiated out of her like soft yellow sunlight.

"Come on," Luanne said to her when she had heard the door to Rosie's room open and shut. They went to the round dining table covered with a thin layer of glass. On the table were a plate turned upside down, along with two covered dishes. Luanne went over to a dish rack near the kitchen sink and got an extra plate and silverware for Cassandra. After setting a place for her guest, she uncovered the two dishes. One was filled with _giniling_. The other had steamed rice. Luanne passed the rice to Cassandra and motioned for her to help herself. Then she handed over the _giniling. _

"Sorry this is all we've got," Luanne said as she began to dig into her meal.

"It's okay, Luanne," Cassandra assured her. "And thank you for letting me into your home and for sharing your dinner with me."

"Rosie always makes more than enough because she thinks I should eat more." Luanne handed over a glass of cold water to Cassandra.

"She's right. You should." Cassandra swallowed another spoonful of rice and _giniling_. "You know, this is good—did Rosie buy it or did she cook it herself?"

"She cooked it all herself," Luanne said proudly, "She knows how to do housework better than me."

"This is the best _giniling_ I've eaten in a long while." As if to underscore her point, Cassandra took a second helping.

"Really?" Luanne wondered if Cassandra was just saying that to make her feel good. She didn't seem to be the type to eat _giniling_; she looked more like the kind of woman who frequented all those fancy restaurants that she promised to take Rosie to when she eventually graduated from high school.

"Yeah," Cassandra said. "Besides, you don't expect me to survive on an overpriced menu in a place where the ambience is twice as expensive as the food, do you?"

Luanne gave a start. That was the second time tonight that she felt as if Cassandra could read her mind. Again, she wondered about her rescuer. _Who are you anyway?_ she asked silently. _And what really happened out there tonight?_

She broke out of her reverie when she noticed Cassandra standing up to clear the table. "Hey, let me handle that!" she said, getting up from her chair. "No, please—let me. It's the least I can do for the wonderful dinner," Cassandra told her. She watched as her rescuer brought their plates and silverware to the kitchen sink. Cassandra had taken off her trench coat when they'd sat down to eat. The gloves were in the pocket of the coat which hung from the back of the chair Cassandra had used. She was still wearing her vest. Luanne put the remainder of their meal into the refrigerator as Cassandra went about washing the dishes. When they had finished cleaning up, Cassandra asked for another glass of water. Luanne poured them both a glass and then put the pitcher in fridge.

"I hate to eat and run but I think I should be getting myself home, Luanne," Cassandra said after finishing her glass. "You want me to wash these before I go?"

"No," Luanne said. "I'll handle it. Are you sure you don't want to spend the night here or at least until there are people out on the street?"

"No need. I don't think there's going to be anymore trouble tonight." And that was true—Cassandra could sense no other demonic presence nearby.

"Okay. Let me accompany you to the gate." Luanne waited as Cassandra put her coat and gloves on again. As they started down the path to the gate, Luanne noticed Cassandra look up towards the second floor of their apartment, towards Rosie's window.

"Cassandra, what is it?" Luanne asked. "Is there something wrong?"

Cassandra stood there, looking at Rosie's window for several moments. She could feel…something. Not demonic but not completely human…then she noticed Luanne standing beside her with a look of concern on her face.

"Nothing, It's nothing. Don't worry about it." Cassandra put a hand to Luanne's face again for a few seconds. When she removed her hand, Luanne just shrugged and said, "Okay. Come on then—we don't want you getting home late." Cassandra walked silently beside Luanne, her mind on Rosie.

"Thanks for the dinner," Cassandra said as she stepped outside the gate. "Tell Rosie she's a good cook."

"I will. And thanks for helping me out a while ago," Luanne told her. She waved goodbye to Cassandra and wished her a safe trip home. Cassandra smiled and waved back. Then she turned and hit the streets. She would still be on the lookout for any other demons for the rest of the night but she knew she would still thinking about Rosie.


End file.
